Topics - vonking1980

Yes, I know I should be using my time to practice calligraphy but playing around with mandalas and zentangle is a little addicting. Does it count if I am using a dippen to draw these?

I'm not sure if I'm liking the gold on the third one. Usually I think it would be a great combination, but I'm wondering if I should have kept it all white, especially with the green background. The second has too many elements going on in it, but was fun to draw!

I thought I was going nuts this past week. I bought some walnut ink and have had trouble getting the consistency right. One day it was amazing, the next my hairlines weren't as good as the day before. I tend to use the front and back of the Canson paper and am using Leonardt Principal. This morning I was getting frustrated with how my ink was acting again because I thought I had gotten it figured out yesterday. As I fiddled with the paper, ink and nibs again, I noticed that the hairlines on one side was awesome, the other side was fine but not as good. Am I crazy here (don't answer that), or does the BACK of Canson Pro Layout Paper work better than the front? I have attached photos below. Anyone else run into this? And am I overthinking how "hairy" hairlines are supposed to be? Thanks for any input!

I am so missing my computer screen right now!! Anyway, I'm brand new to calligraphy, and of course in my excitement of wanting to dive right in, I went to the craft store and bought a Speedball holder, nibs, and some Speedball acrylic ink. I also purchased some India ink. I have transitioned to an oblique holder and work between the Nikko G (with Inkcage )and Hunt 101. As I've been practicing, I'm having issues with the transition from a downstroke to a light/hairline upstroke. Unless I turn my nib slightly on an edge, which I've read here it'll wear out one of the tines faster, I have a nice blob of ink dragging into the curve and there's barely any contrast from the downstroke/upstroke. I do lift my pen where it barely, sometime doesn't touch the page, but there's a lot of ink and it just drags through. I'm thinking:

A) I have too much ink on the pen in generalB) Wrong type of inkC) Beginner error and just need to practiceD) Wrong angle?E) All of the above

Before I rush out and buy even more stuff that I may or may not need, I guess my question is, would the ink affect writing in that way? Also, has anyone had any experience with the inkcage system?I truly appreciate any help and advice!

Thank you for the add Erica! My name is Yvonne and I currently reside in Conyers, GA, but consider myself from out West. I'm really excited to be here. I'm brand new to calligraphy in general.

There was a specific purpose in me starting this endeavor; I wanted to be able to handwrite messages on carved candles. I thought, this shoud be easy enought. HA! I sorta took a detour and dove in lol. Anyway, about 3 weeks ago, I started out dabbling with brush pens, then moved to a dip pen last week. Or course, I'm now stock piling nibs as we speak....

I'm looking forward in talking with everyone here, learning, and seeing how you masters do your thing.